WHY DO WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MANAGING SEX OFFENDERS IN COMMUNITIES?

Those people who commit sexual assaults, whether convicted for these offenses or not, live in our communities.  Increasing community safety means knowing that sex offenders reside in the community and understanding how they are managed.  Data suggests that there are many more sexual abusers in the community than those who have been identified by the court system (or are on Internet registries).

• The research that has been conducted regarding the incidence and prevalence of sexual assault reveals that most sex offenders are not under correctional supervision.  That is, the majority of those individuals who sexually abuse are not apprehended by the criminal justice system.  It is important to be just as concerned about the sex offenders we do not know about as those we do.

• With specialized treatment and supervision, some sex offenders can be safely managed in the community.

• Most sex offenders who are incarcerated will be released into the community eventually.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon all those involved in the management of these cases to work together in an effort to make effective and responsible decisions about how best to manage these cases.

• Given that we know that some portion of sex offenders will be under community supervision, it is prudent to assure that appropriate supervision and treatment resources are allocated to their management.

• Communities can help by supporting sex offenders’ attempts to reintegrate into society and give back to society.  Research suggests that sex offenders are less likely to reoffend when living in a stable environment.  Thus, assuring stable housing and employment for these offenders can promote safety in the long run.

In order to prevent future victimization, sex offenders must exercise both internal and external control over their behavior.  Criminal justice systems, with assistance from others in the community, engage in "sex offender management" to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to control offender behavior to the maximum extent possible.

To strengthen the offender's internal control and impose external controls on his behavior, offenders are best managed by multidisciplinary teams that include, at a minimum, supervising probation or parole agents and treatment providers who work together to individualize the supervision and treatment plans according to the unique challenges faced by and posed by a specific offender. Research and experience indicates that victim and community safety is best achieved when parole and probation agents and treatment providers work with advocates for victims and community members in supervising individual offenders. Thus, collaboration is an important principle in sex offender management.

• The community supervision component performed by probation or parole agents constitutes external control.  The supervision agent (following the orders of the court) limits what offenders do or are allowed to do, and tries to limit an offender's exposure to potential victims and high risk situations.  One specific kind of external control is making sure that offenders participate in appropriate treatment.

• Treatment helps offenders develop internal controls.  Sex offender specific treatment works on helping offenders identify their individual pattern of abuse – the thoughts, actions, and events that precede their offense behavior and ways they can respond differently to avoid reoffending.

• The community component of sex offender management can include a variety of people.  Typically, members of the community who are involved in imposing external controls on offenders include employers, family members, and friends.  Law enforcement agencies play a key role in the surveillance of offender activity.

• The victim advocate component of sex offender management is handled differently in different communities.  At minimum, this component means that concern for the safety and privacy of known victim(s) and victims’ families influences the supervision plan designed for an individual offender.  A small number of communities across the country have hired victim advocates to serve on sex offender management teams in their communities.

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It is important for citizens to understand the role of sex offender management teams in their communities and support their efforts to responsibly manage these offenders.  Community education efforts should be designed to help citizens:

• Assist criminal justice agencies in monitoring am offender's behavior and actions.  This is not to place community members in a supervisory role, but to empower citizens to participate in community safety planning and to support the creation of an environment in which the offender is most likely to succeed without risk of reoffense.

• Use available channels for expressing concerns.  If community members have a concern about a particular sex offender, this information should be brought to the attention of the offender's probation or parole officer immediately.  If there is not a satisfactory response, citizens should call the officer's supervisor.  Attempts by citizens to confront, harass, or shame a sex offender into compliance can have unintended, negative consequences.  Citizen concerns should always be addressed through the official criminal justice system.

• Accept that sex offenders will and do live in communities.  It is not feasible for every community to incarcerate all sex offenders for life.  Therefore, we must recognize that sex offenders will live among us and safety is best served by responding to that fact.

• Understand that safely supervising sex offenders in communities is complex.  The strategies that are emerging as promising for preventing individual offenders from reoffending are not simple. Unfortunately, there is no simple solution that will end sexual assault.

• Citizens should be encouraged to refrain from ostracizing sex offenders or their families.  When sex offenders or their families are ostracized, the result can only their progress in treatment and may in fact jeopardize their willingness to comply with the very conditions of supervision that are most likely to reduce their likelihood for reoffense.

• Encourage each and every community member to educate him or herself and loved ones about the dangers of sexual assault and in particular about child sexual assault (see NCMEC Child Protection information brochure).  As was discussed previously, many of us hold fears about sexual assault that are based on misconceptions.  In order for citizens to most effectively protect themselves, it is important that they clearly understand who is at risk and how best they can be protected.

HOW CAN CITIZENS HELP INCREASE COMMUNITY SAFETY?

Citizens can enhance public safety by getting involved and becoming leaders in their communities.

Members of the community can get involved in helping to prevent sexual assault and maintain the safety of their community. Community members can:

• Talk openly about the sexual assault of adults and children, men, women, boys, and girls.

• Understand the issues involved in sexual assault.  Know the statistics.

• Don't assume preventing sexual assault is someone else's responsibility.

• Talk to your children about personal safety issues as they relate to child sexual abuse.  Do this when you talk to your children about bike safety, crossing the street, or talking to strangers.  It is, in many ways, just another personal safety rule about which children need to be aware.

• Listen to your children.  You can minimize the risk to your children by listening to their questions and concerns and by ensuring an open and communicative family lifestyle where your children know they can come to you if they have questions, fears and/or concerns.

• Increase your knowledge about risk reduction measures you can take to protect yourself.

• Invite your local law enforcement, probation/parole department, rape crisis center, or child abuse prevention organization to a neighborhood discussion group to learn about this issue and address neighbors' fears and concerns.

• Get to know your neighbors.

• Organize neighborhood block watches, if desired by your neighbors.

• Don't wait until you are informed that a sex offender is living nearby to take action to reduce your risk of sexual assault.

• Get involved in primary prevention, that is, educational efforts that seek to stop the behaviors and attitudes that allow sexual assault to occur.

• Find out the statistics on child sexual abuse, adult sexual assault, offender arrest, and incarceration in your community.

• Beware of the media's ability to draw attention to the most horrific of stories concerning the sexual assault of children or adults.  These stories, while real and very frightening, are usually not the norm.

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